Onions go into most every savory dish cooked in my kitchen. They are the first in the pan and add body, flavor, and nutrition to veggie stir fries, soups, and curries. Onions are also very nutritious, and we're not talking just about vitamins and minerals here. Onions have unique properties that supercharge your gut flora helping to make digesting foods easier and have even been shown to lower cholesterol, balance blood sugar, and improve acne! Who knew!

Onion harvest is underway and they are finding their way to tables all over the market. Try a sweet vidalia from Homer Grown, a spicy red torpedo from SIU Sustainable farm, or some shallots from Shade Tree Farm. Grab an extra bunch and try your hand at caramelized onions. Caramelizing onions is a slow process, but worth the wait! They make a sweet, satisfying topping for burgers or pizzas, or an flavor booster for soups, sauces, or stir fries. The caramelized onions will keep well in the fridge for a week or freezer for up to 3 months. If you're feeling adventurous, try this caramelized onion tomato jam, it sounds like a real treat!

Slice the onions: Trim the tip and root from the onions, cut them in half and remove the skins. Slice the onion from root to stem into thin slices. (Alternatively, you can dice the onions.)

Melt the butter: Place your skillet over medium heat and melt the butter.

Add the onions: Add all the onions to the pan and stir them gently to coat with butter.

Caramelize the onions: Check the onions every 5 to 10 minutes. Stir the onions and scrape up any fond that forms on the bottom of the skillet. Exact cooking times will vary with the number of onions you're cooking, their liquid and sugar content, and their age.**

Deglaze the pan and salt the onions: When your onions have finished cooking, pour 1/4 cup wine, broth, balsamic vinegar, or water. As the liquid bubbles, scrape up the fond and stir it into the onions. Use additional liquid as necessary to scrape up all the fond. Salt the onions to taste.

Cool and store the onions: If you're not using the onions immediately, let them cool in the pan, then transfer them to a storage container. Caramelized onions can be kept refrigerated for around a week or frozen for up to three months.

**• Around 10 Minutes: Onions will start to soften and turn translucent in spots. They will release a lot of liquid into the pan.

• Around 20 Minutes: Onions will be very soft and starting to break down. Some onions will start to show spots of caramelization and you may see some fond starting to build up in the pan. They will also start to smell caramelized. Adjust the heat if the onions seem to be cooking too quickly or you notice any burnt spots.

• Around 30 Minutes: Onions should be light blonde in color and starting to become jammy. More fond is starting to build up, but it should still be fairly easy to scrape it up with the evaporating liquid from the onions.

• Around 40 Minutes: Onions are golden and starting to smell very caramelized. Taste one — if you like the way they taste, you can stop now! For even deeper caramelized flavor, continue cooking.

• Around 50 Minutes and Beyond: Continued cooking will result in darker, richer, even more caramelized onions. Continue checking the onions every 5 to 10 minutes until they reach your desired level of caramelization. The fond may start to build up on the bottom of the pan — let it be unless it looks like it's starting to burn (in which case, deglaze the pan with a little water).